![]() There are over a thousand native species of trees in Japan. Today, silvaculture practices take place mainly in plantation forests and any tree cutting must adhere to a strict ritual protocol involving a Shintō priest. Most of these forests are second- and third-growth forests, since the country was almost completely deforested in the 1600s. Most people do not think of forests when they think of Japan, but currently over 60% of the land in Japan is beautifully forested. ![]() The Japanese certainly love their trees, both domesticated and wild. Finely sculpted Pine trees ( matsu), in the tradition of niwaki, have especially historically been a significant theme and symbols of many Japanese arts. As well, the Japanese are known for their formal, manicured gardens and specific horticultural techniques, including bonsai (which some, this author included, consider to be a form of horti-torture). The Japanese culture is well known for its appreciation of the aesthetics of trees, especially during the riot of Spring blossoms ( hanami) like the cherry, or sakura ( Prunus sp.) trees and the flush of warm Autumn colors such as Maples and the non-native Ginkgos. But first, I offer some fundamentals about Shintō as a spiritual system and trees in Japanese culture. ) Therefore, I will focus on my own personal experience as an animist, an arborist specializing in ancient trees, TreeGirl the photographer, and my inquiry based upon my own literary research. ![]() Shintō is sometimes referred to as an “intuitive religion” (“ chokkan shukyō”), the essence of which can only be grasped experientially (and supposedly not completely understandable by Westerners. I will preface by saying that as a Westerner, my understanding of Shintō is limited based my brief thirty-day experience visiting Japan. Here I share with you five stories of my encounters with five phenomenal trees ‘who’ unexpectedly and forever changed the way I understood trees. So much so, that I was confused about what, or who, was so powerful: was it the tree itself, the ‘spirit’ of the tree, or the kami who I was experiencing? This kind of mysterious encounter with more-than-human beings experienced through sensory perception, is what I term “phenomenality”. In my experience, the presence, power, and energy-and I would say “holiness”- that these trees radiate go way beyond anything I had previously encountered in my twenty-five career. I was very curious to meet them and understand more about the dynamic between Shintōism and trees what makes these particular ancient trees so culturally an spiritually significant? Shinboku are especially large, old, or notably magnificent to anyone who is in their presence. On a month-long tree- and forest-therapy research expedition in Japan in Spring of 2019, I made pilgrimages to sacred trees known as shinboku (or goshinboku)-trees that are revered as sacred dwelling places, shrines for kami - Shintō deities or spirits. I have traveled all over the world in my search for these trees, which has inadvertently led to an ecopsychological study of the human-tree relationship. My aim is to invite intimacy with the wild, as a way to ‘rebond’ with wild nature, that from which we as a modern, industrialized culture in crisis has become alienated and disassociated. My intention in documenting these experiences is both aesthetic in the genre of classic beauty, and to show that as humans, there is no separation between us and nature. I have captured beautiful, and sometimes energetically ecstatic, private moments on film (using a remote control) of myself in the nude intertwined with these trees. ![]() If I feel inspired, and it feels safe and right to do so, I respectfully climb the tree, finding the places where I ‘fit”, as a form of somatic ecotherapy and meditation. In my practice, I listen to each ‘spirit of the tree’ energetically and psychically. I seek these trees out like a treasure hunt because I want to experience the wisdom and energy of these wise elders that cannot be somatically and sensorially understood from a photograph alone. My fascination with trees is equally ecological, sensory, and spiritual, but I mostly depend on my intuitive senses to guide me. ![]() As the self-portrait photographer and arborist TreeGirl, I have spent hours of intimate time with hundreds of trees-some of the most ancient and largest individuals on the planet. ![]()
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